Exclusive: CNN Releases The Trump-Cohen Tape

We lastly know what’s on that tape through which then-candidate Donald Trump and Michael Cohen reportedly mentioned paying for the rights to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal’s story of an alleged affair with Trump. The story on the time belonged to the writer of the Nationwide Enquirer, American Media Inc., and the tape offers the primary proof that Trump spoke with Cohen about buying the rights to girls’s tales — apparently to silence them — earlier than the 2016 election.

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Cohen and the White Home have mentioned beforehand that Cohen paid porn star Stormy Daniels hush cash with out Trump’s information. A Trump marketing campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, additionally falsely denied Trump had any information of AMI’s cope with McDougal.

CNN obtained audio of the September 2016 name from Cohen’s lawyer and aired it Tuesday night time. However whereas the tape appeared to reference McDougal’s story, the dialog is transient and quite unwieldy. Under is the complete transcript, which was initially offered by Trump’s authorized staff however edited to extra precisely replicate CNN’s audio. The important thing components are in yellow, highlighted and annotated.